"We're Just Getting Started": TMNT Confirms More Last Ronin Stories Are On The Way

Published Jul 23, 2026, 11:30 PM EDT An experienced Editor representing Canada via ScreenRant's Team Anime, J.R. has been reading manga since the first printing of Shonen Jump in North America. This passion drove him to write about anime, manga, and manhwa since 2022, having recently served as Lead Anime Editor for ComicBook.com. His favorite moments in media coverage include reviewing the series premieres of Zom 100 and Bleach: TYBW Part 2 back-to-back and briefly meeting Junji Ito at a VIZ gallery event in 2023. Sign in to your ScreenRant account 1984 was a legendary year for pop culture in the West, with many franchises still kicking or, at worst, clinging to life in the present. Massive hits like Ghostbusters, Terminator, and The Karate Kid all dropped within the year, but for comic book fans who'd witness the emergence of a franchise spanning hit movies, TV shows, video games, and more, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was one of the best things to come out of that year. But in the four decades since, the world of TMNT changed drastically, from creative teams, to aesthetics, to even the makeup of its central Heroes in a Half Shell. But while the series has had multiple iterations, one from 2020 truly stood out. What made Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin so thrilling was how it aged and sent off these turtles in the present, giving hope for new characters to rise organically from the ooze that birthed their predecessors. Featuring the vision of Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, and scripted by Tom Waltz, the series poignantly concluded virtually all important characters' arcs, while keeping the flame alive for future generations. New York City, and all of Japan, are under the Foot Clan as of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin II - Re-Evolution, but a new generation has refused to be stamped out, with the latest TMNT issue teasing another story on the way. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' 300th Issue Special Teases The Last Ronin's Return Much of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' 20th issue under the current run, which commemorated 300 issues overall, focused on its mainline story's latest development with "The Veil". It set up a breaking of the boundaries between the worlds of the living and the dead, some key betrayals, and some shocking returns. But one particular return was teased in the backup story at the end by Eastman and Waltz, "Timeline Cleanse" which, after setting up the codename for the original continuity, "Turtles Prime", made a cheeky reference to The Last Ronin. "Besides, you ask me...we're totes just getting started!" -Renet, TMNT 300th Issue Special In the last page of the 300th issue special, Renet the Timestress is shown "talking to some old friends" before being reprimanded for not focusing on getting more work done. Cheekily claiming one can't "rush perfection", Renet is shown to be seen staring at a group shot of the new generation of Ninja Turtles following Michelangelo's passing. In fact, the exact shot is cropped out of one of the covers for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin-Re-Evolution, featuring new Turtles Odyn, Moja, Yi, and Uno. While the final lines are clearly a reference to the franchise overall, this moment seems as indicative as it can be that more of The Last Ronin is on the way. The Last Ronin Has Been Firing On All Cylinders Lately For those actively or even casually following the Ninja Turtles franchise, The Last Ronin has been having yet another moment. Recently, the new one-shot, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin-Training Day, laid out Michelangelo's key teachings passed onto Casey Marie Jones as the new generation of Turtles emerged. Instilling a hopeful message within the young novices as they grew into the Resistance fighters shown in Re-Evolution, and the series having key unresolved plot threads ahead, namely, what appears to be Jiro Watanabe's betrayal and the next steps of Operation Phoenix. April may be gone now too, but hope has not yet been extinguished. But that's not all, as even if the mere tease of more The Last Ronin doesn't instantly translate into the next comic, the franchise has confirmed this grim TMNT saga is getting plenty of love. Summer Game Fest 2026 recently confirmed the video game adaptation was back on track, with PlatinumGames as the key developer and Paramount Games Studio publishing, meaning it has a solid shot at being one of the most fluid, satisfying TMNT games in recent memory, while appropriately different enough from the rest of the franchise. Whatever flavor of fan one may be, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles has an overwhelming array of options for The Last Ronin readers and beyond. Created by Kevin Eastman, Peter Laird First Film Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990) Latest Film Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem Upcoming Films Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem 2 First TV Show Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Latest TV Show Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) is a multi-media franchise that began with Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird’s comics in the 1980s. Throughout the years, their comic books expanded to movies, TV shows, video games, and toys. Most notably, the animated Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ran for nearly a decade and has become a nostalgic staple of the ‘80s and ‘90s. Several other movies have featured the four anthropomorphic turtle brothers (Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello, and Raphael), including the trilogy of live-action films in the ‘90s and the more recent movies Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and its sequel Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin Developer(s) PlatinumGames Publisher(s) Paramount Games Studio Franchise Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Based on the comic series of the same name, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin is an action-adventure game that centers on Michaelangelo, one of the four Turtle brothers. Following the death of his three brothers, Michaelangelo takes up their weapons and becomes The Last Ronin to seek his revenge.